This invention relates to interactive television program guide video systems, and more particularly, to interactive television program guide systems that provide remote access to program guide functionality.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Users have traditionally consulted printed television program schedules to determine the programs being broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactive electronic television program guides have been developed that allow television program information to be displayed on a user's television.
Interactive television program guides allow the user to navigate through television program listings using a remote control. In a typical program guide, various groups of television program listings are displayed in predefined or user-defined categories. Listings are typically displayed in a grid or table.
Interactive television program guides are typically implemented on set-top boxes located in the homes of users. A typical set-top box is connected to the user's television and videocassette recorder. The program guide system is therefore not portable. As a result, the user cannot use the program guide to adjust program reminder settings, to select programs for recording, to purchase pay-per-view programs, or to perform other program guide functions without that user being physically located in the same room in the home.
On-line program guides allow users to view program listings using a web-browser. However, the on-line program guides that are available on the Internet do not provide the versatility of in-home program guides. For example, on-line program guides do not allow the user to set in-home reminders for programming, to adjust parental control settings, or to select programs for recording on the user's videocassette recorder.
On-line program guides have also been implemented that allow users to order pay-per-view programs. Such systems allow users to order programs via a web server as opposed to via the telephone or using impulse ordering. A third party takes orders via the internet, bills the user, and provides ordering information to the headend. The headend authorizes the user's set-top to view the ordered program using conventional signal denial or signal scrambling systems without coordinating the ordering of the pay-per-view program with an in-home guide. Ordering pay-per-view programs in this manner (i.e., without coordinating the order with an in-home guide), does not provide users with many of the benefits of ordering pay-per-views through an in-home guide, such as upcoming program reminders or missed program reminders. Users are also not prevented from attempting to order a pay-per-view program with a guide after the program has been ordered.
Program guides that run on personal computers are also available. Such programs guides are useful for users who wish to view program listings information, but who cannot readily access their set-top-box-based program guide. For example, another member of the user's household may be watching television and therefore dominating the use of the set-top box and television. Because there is no way for the user of such a personal computer program guide to coordinate the operation of the personal computer program guide with the operation of the set-top box program guide, the user of a personal computer program guide is not able to use the personal computer program guide to set in-home reminders for programming, to adjust parental control settings, to select programs for recording on the user's videocassette recorder, or to purchase pay-per-view programs.
Presently existing program guide systems therefore require that the user be physically present in the home to access important program guide features such as program reminders, parental control, and program recording.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system in which the program guide may be remotely accessed by the user. Such a system may allow the user to access important features of the user's in-home program guide from a remote location and set program guide settings for those features.
This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, to techniques for providing interactive television program guide functionality on multiple devices within a household.
Families often have multiple televisions and set-top boxes placed throughout the household. A family's household even may include multiple homes. Because there is no coordination between the program guides running on each of the various set-top boxes in the household, if a user adjusts the settings for a program guide on one set-top box, these settings are not communicated to the program guides on any of the other set-top boxes in the household. If a parent wants to restrict access to certain channels on all the televisions in the household, the parent must adjust the parental control settings on each set-top box individually. Reminders and favorite channel settings must similarly be set for each program guide separately if a user desires to have such settings be in effect throughout the household. Messages sent from the cable operator can only be sent to a particular set-top box. Some cable system subscriber management systems can allow a cable operator to manage all cable boxes within a home (i.e. manage billing for individual locations within a home). However, such systems do not allow user interaction with the cable operator.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a program guide system that allows a user to adjust to the user settings of a plurality of program guides at different locations within a household from a single location.